I’m standing in the express line at Whole Foods. There’s a teenager, all of 15, in front of me, and a very old man with a cane, in front of her.

I see her impatience growing as he fumbles with his wallet to pay for his bag of oranges.

She’s looking at her watch, manning her phone with NASA like vigilance, when suddenly, she pushes the man, aside, like a bag of old clothes.

“Can I just pay for my coffee, please?” she says sharply to the cashier, who’s waiting, patiently, for the old man to get it together.

So shocked by what I saw, I couldn’t speak, but two young boys behind me had no such problem.

“What the fuck?” Who are you to do that?” said one, a muffin in his hand I thought he might hit her with.

She, in her Upper East Side smugness, ignored him, as she counted out exact change.

Now, the old man, having no idea he was just so shamelessly shunned said, “Oh, I’m not that steady on my feet these days,” when he stumbled, looking as if he might fall.

The other young man, who grabbed him said, “It’s okay sir, do you need help getting a taxi or just, getting out?”

“A taxi? On such a beautiful day…no, I’ll walk, even if it takes a while, but thank you for offering.”

His obliviousness of the way he was treated laced with good cheer, made you want to weep.

Meanwhile, as the little entitled bitch, dressed her coffee, young man number one said, “I know you, you’re in Mr. Glicker’s class, and wait till I get to school to tell him. I’m ashamed to even know your face.”

I’m quoting word for word after scribbling it all on a napkin.

And how impressive, her redress came from her peers.

Who said chivalry was dead? It’s not, it was last seen at Whole Foods on 87th and Third looking spiffy on two young high school lads, whose parents, clearly, raised them right.

And just when you think, you’ve seen everything.

sigh

SB

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About Susannah Bianchi

I'm just a girl who likes to write slightly on slant. I've had a career in fashion, dabbled in film and to be honest, I don't like talking about myself. Now my posts are another matter so I will let them speak for themselves.
My eBooks, A New York Diary, Model Behavior: Friends For Life and Notes From A Working Cat can be found on Amazon.com. Thanks.

Susannah, thank you for sharing this story. I agree that having the disapproval come from her peers will be much more effective than from us older folks. And I like the line “I’m ashamed to even know your face.” Let’s hope that as her story makes the rounds at school it will make at least one thoughtless person stop and think.

As much as I just wanted you to pound her in the ground, I know those peers made a much more significant impact. I’ve had some bitches do that to V in line at Whole Foods, and it’s usually the cashiers who give the evil eye to the bitches and tell her to “take your time, I’m not in a hurry.”

I taught some of the meanest and harshest students in the community I worked in. They were teens and could be nasty and rough and even threatening. However, after I got to know them, after I showed them that I treated them equally, didn’t put up with much crap, and that I truly loved them all, even when I might not like what they were doing – after all this, I saw a side of many of them that would make you cry – they could be so caring, so polite, so nicely behaved…and it wasn’t an act. We just became, well, friends, still are with so many of them (they are around 22-26 now). I am glad to have had them in my life.
No, chivalry is not dead – it’s just misplaced a lot – and, yes, the bitches are still out there.
Scott